NRP Success Stories - Ward 6 - Some of the Success Stories from Ward 6

• Franklin Avenue Streetscape - Residents in the Phillips neighborhood invested $300,000 in NRP funds in a $3.8 million Franklin Avenue Streetscape renewal project for the blocks from Chicago to 16th Avenues. The project includes new pedestrian lighting, 80 new trees, benches, perennial flowerbeds, bike racks and widened sidewalks inlaid with colorful graphic designs depicting the many cultures represented in the Phillips neighborhood. The streetscape improvements have already spurred additional development in the area.

• Green Institute – Residents in the Phillips neighborhood were able to turn a proposed site for a garbage transfer station into a center for environmental and community renewal. The Green Institute and its programs are now turning waste into useful products, creating jobs, and producing a cleaner environment.

• Ancient Traders Market – NRP funds were used to help acquire and renovate a building at 1113 E. Franklin Avenue. The building, now known as Ancient Trader’s Market, serves as a retail mall/small business incubator housing American Indian and other multi-cultural businesses.

• Stewart Park Renovation – Because of the NRP, the neighborhood was able to address parking problems at the adjoining Anderson School, put speed bumps on 12th Avenue to slow traffic, add trees to the park, install higher quality playing fields, and increase lighting in the area.  As a result, safety was improved and the park is now a source of neighborhood pride. The NRP process ensured that project design and implementation reflected the needs and wants of neighborhood residents.

• Midtown Greenway Bicycle and Pedestrian Path – Residents in six Minneapolis neighborhoods invested nearly $90,000 in NRP funds to convert an unused sunken rail corridor into the 2.8-mile Midtown Greenway Bicycle and Pedestrian Path. When complete, the Midtown Greenway will extend all the way from Minneapolis’ western border to the Mississippi River along 29th Street.

• Nicollet Avenue Streetscape: EAT STREET – The Stevens Square, Loring Park and Whittier neighborhoods invested more than $100,000 in NRP funds in planning for the renovation of Nicollet Avenue from 15th Street to 28th Street.  The planning investment and implementation funds from the three neighborhoods resulted in the leveraging of additional public and private funds that brought new trees, new sidewalks, decorative iron and brick railings, and pedestrian level street lighting to a 1.2 mile stretch of Nicollet Avenue. The former “no man’s land” was transformed into “Eat Street”.  When EAT STREET officially opened in 1997, it completely changed the once barren Nicollet Avenue into one of the hottest restaurant and food-oriented corridors in all of Minneapolis.

• Stevens Community Apartments –The Stevens Square and Loring Heights neighborhoods invested $500,000 of NRP funds and teamed with private property owners to renovate and rehabilitate 618 units in 23 low-income apartment buildings.  The neighborhood leveraged nearly $15 million in additional private and public monies to assure that quality affordable housing would remain in one of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the city.

• Central Cities Neighborhood Partnership Community Conferencing Program – Stevens Square initiated a multi-neighborhood collaboration with Loring Park and Elliot Park that resulted in the creation of a restorative justice program called Community Conferencing.  Restorative justice programs are founded on the belief that the community is one of the victims when a crime occurs.  Justice can be served when the community and the victim hold offenders accountable for their actions. The NRP-supported neighborhood organizations and boards have given the program visibility and credibility in the neighborhoods.

• Van Dusen Mansion Renovation – The Stevens Square Community Organization (SSCO) saved the Van Dusen mansion from demolition and contributed to its restoration.    The neighborhood invested $300,000 of its NRP funds in the renovation of this historic neighborhood landmark.  Turning around this single property began the revitalization of the neighborhood.  Built in 1894 by grain industry mogul George Van Dusen, the mansion has been home to a host of private owners, a school house and Aveda’s Horst Institute. Nearly a century after its construction, however, the grand landmark was scheduled for demolition. Deemed too costly to renovate, the site sat vacant for over a decade while a small homeless population took up unofficial residence. Vandals stripped the abandoned property and the Van Dusen fell quietly into ruin. The project received a 1997 Heritage Preservation Award and a record-breaking 5,000 visitors toured the mansion during the Tenth Annual Minneapolis-St. Paul Home Tour.  Once slated for the wrecking ball, the Van Dusen now sits proudly on the National Registry of Historic Places.         

• Whittier Community School of the Arts – Residents in the Whittier neighborhood invested more than $2 million in NRP funds to acquire and clear land adjacent to Whittier Park, fund a renovation of the park, and construct a new gymnasium that is now shared by the school, park and community. The Whittier Alliance designated $400,000 of their  NRP funds to facilitate the construction of a new school building to be built adjacent to the Whittier Park Center.  The park center was in need of renovation and a new gymnasium was built to link the school and park buildings using $1,900,000 in NRP funds.  The neighborhood’s NRP investment leveraged $15,000,0000 from the Minneapolis Schools when the new elementary school was constructed.  This state-of-the-art complex, which opened in 1997, has become a vital asset to the community and brought a new school to a neighborhood with 3,300 children.  NRP also helped assure that a Neighborhood Early Learning Center (NELC) would be part of the school/park complex.

• Whittier Housing Programs – During Phase I of the NRP, the Whittier neighborhood invested $4.5 million, or 58% of the neighborhood's overall NRP allocation, on rental and homeownership housing initiatives. The results of this investment are significant and home ownership in the Whittier neighborhood has increased nearly 15 percent since the launch of the NRP.  Property values have also increased, and single and multi-family dwellings are selling quicker and at higher prices than ever before.

• Nicollet Avenue Streetscape: EAT STREET – The Whittier, Loring Park, and Stevens Square neighborhoods invested more than $100,000 in NRP funds in planning for the renovation of Nicollet Avenue from 15th Street to 28th Street.  The planning investment and implementation funds from the three neighborhoods resulted in the leveraging of additional public and private funds that brought new trees, new sidewalks, decorative iron and brick railings, and pedestrian level street lighting to a 1.2 mile stretch of Nicollet Avenue. The former “no man’s land” was transformed into “Eat Street”.  When EAT STREET officially opened in 1997, it completely changed the once barren Nicollet Avenue into one of the hottest restaurant and food-oriented corridors in all of Minneapolis.

• Bookmobile – The neighborhood invested $120,000 of its NRP funds in partnership with the Minneapolis Library Board to acquire a new Bookmobile to serve Whittier and other neighborhoods of the City.  Prospect Park helped pay for the books.

• Bethlehem Stewart Community Center – Additional space was needed for older neighborhood youth.  Whittier invested $250,000 in NRP funds to expand and renovate the Bethlehem Steward Community Center.

• Jungle Theater – The Jungle Theater moved to new location in Whittier with a $50,000 grant and $150,000 loan from Whittier’s NRP Funds.

• Business Loan Fund – A commercial and industrial revolving loan fund was established using $292,000 (1993-01) in NRP funds.